Overcoming Common eCommerce Obstacles with Product Data

What are the challenges of eCommerce?

By 2024, it was predicted that eCommerce would reach $6.4 trillion worldwide, according to research. The events of 2021 and 2020 served merely to fan the flames. The first half of 2020 saw a growth in eCommerce’s proportion of the retail market equal to that of the previous five years.

Companies are reacting to these emerging eCommerce obstacles. McKinsey survey data shows that companies have advanced the digitization of consumer interaction by approximately three years on a worldwide scale. A few offline firms that still have physical stores are starting to sell online. Thus, the level of competitiveness is also steadily rising.

As they attempt to develop a digital experience that will meet customers’ increasing expectations and adjust to the newest eCommerce trends, eCommerce organizations are faced with new problems. Keeping your website traffic high, retaining client loyalty, and preserving cybersecurity are some other issues you could encounter. We’ll examine the typical 6 obstacles eCommerce business owners face and those aiming to increase their online presence encounter in this post.

Correct invalid or missing product information

Whether information is missing or incorrect on one or all of your channels, it can greatly disrupt your customers’ shopping experience and present a formidable eCommerce obstacle. Considering the volume of information needed to sell products effectively, it is far too easy to miss something. This can:

• Create a customer service nightmare with an onslaught of calls and complaints
• Generate more returns when customers order the wrong product
• Cause issues with marketplaces that block you from uploading products due to formatting issues

A PIM enables you to create and manage a single source of truth for all your product information. From SKUs to technical specifications and from images to marketplace-specific languages and formats, you eliminate the risk of displaying inaccurate product information.

Gain a presence on the right sales channels

Today customers can choose the online platforms that suit their shopping preferences. Customers using one channel in a market where you aren’t selling means you miss out on an entire segment of that market. With a PIM, you can sell everywhere your customers shop with the help of digital marketing. You can remove eCommerce obstacles that make it difficult to expand to new marketplaces and territories.

As a result, you can quickly react to customer demand and tap into new opportunities in emerging marketplaces. Your PIM works in hand with your DAM so that you can access the varied formats required by each channel. Even if you manage thousands of SKUs across multiple categories, your PIM offers speedy uploads accommodating not just formats but also languages and currencies.

High-quality images

If you find you lack the ability to visually showcase your items accurately, you are practically handing business over to your competitors. A PIM in hand with your DAM is the only solution to overcome this specific eCommerce obstacle. Efficient product information management enables you to create enriched content with digital assets of the highest quality.

Your online content can include high-quality images, product videos, 360 and 3D views and even leverage Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) functionalities. Combined with detailed PDF documents such as manuals, assembly instructions, sizing charts, etc., you provide all the information your customers need to make confident purchases.

Increase supply chain visibility

Little to no supply chain visibility interferes with getting your product from point A to point B as quickly as possible. You need to track goods from the time they arrive in your warehouse (or store) until they reach your customer’s door. You also need a clear view of products in transit. Supply chain visibility also enables you to put cost controls in place through effective management of inventory to limit disruptions.

Using a PIM, you can use your central source of information to ensure top sellers are identified, so you maintain inventory. You also improve product information accuracy to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costly returns that create confusion in product location and inventory counts.

Automate product information updates and workflows

Little to no supply chain visibility is a common eCommerce obstacle interferes with getting your product from point A to point B as quickly as possible. You need to track goods from the time they arrive in your warehouse (or store) until they reach your customer’s door. You also need a clear view of products in transit. Supply chain visibility also enables you to put cost controls in place through effective management of inventory to limit disruptions.

Using a PIM, you can use your central source of information to ensure top sellers are identified, so you maintain inventory. You also improve product information accuracy to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costly returns that create confusion in product location and inventory counts.

“Do I need a PIM?”

You need a PIM if you:

• Import data and assets from multiple systems
• Find discrepancies, errors, or contradictions in product data
• Make constant product updates and changes
• Manage complex product relationships
• Want to expand to new marketplaces or sell across varied channels
• Provide different layers of product data details to various people
• Operate in different geographies
• Want to maintain data consistency for regulatory or business purposes

A PIM is designed to overcome common eCommerce obstacles you encounter with product data. To learn more about our PIM, take a virtual tour.

How to Overcome eCommerce Challenges?

eCommerce sites are a vital resource for eCommerce store expansion. It is difficult to break into the digital world, thus eCommerce companies must adapt if they want to compete in the digital economy. Select an eCommerce website developing company that provides a flawless consumer experience and is aware of all your needs.

The top eCommerce website development firm will do everything within its power to provide a superior consumer experience. Approximately 89% of consumers begin their search online. Moreover, 81% of customers believe having an intuitive online purchasing platform is crucial. The potential for online purchasing is immense and it is growing quickly. But it also encounters key challenges facing the eCommerce industry that can be surmounted by reflecting on past errors and taking preventative measures to avoid similar ones in the future. This is why, further on we will discuss 5 eCommerce challenges and how to overcome them through efficient marketing strategies.

eCommerce Platform – How to Build One?

eCommerce will always present difficulties, but it will also present a plethora of business prospects. Global eCommerce usage increased as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, and companies that were not yet involved were forced to establish better online touchpoints. Nonetheless, change is constant and swift, as with practically anything tech. Being adaptable in the face of eCommerce obstacles is essential.

The rise of mobile connectivity and the emergence of new technologies such as AI, VR, and AR have already started to impact eCommerce. These developments offer more efficient purchasing processes and improved, highly individualized shopping experiences.

These developments also give companies a way to level the playing field in terms of sales and product content as well as how they differentiate their online user experience. To control this growth, sustainable practices, cybersecurity, and data security must be taken into consideration.

By adopting a customer-centric approach, maintaining flexibility, and keeping a close watch on technological advancements, the eCommerce sector has the potential to transform consumer behavior and business-to-business interactions, thereby simplifying and personalizing shopping for consumers worldwide. For a better understanding, here are 5 eCommerce challenges and how to overcome them:

1.    Choosing the Right eCommerce Business Model

Selecting the ideal niche is the largest and most frequent problem that newly established eCommerce enterprises have. Entrepreneurs leave traditional occupations and take financial risks to follow their dreams. Many people want to make their passions their careers. And to be honest, that’s not at all problematic. You ought to pursue your passion and turn it into a career.

It doesn’t always operate that way, though. Even a business model that interests you could not be lucrative. And that’s the initial challenge that the majority of eCommerce companies encounter. And this is not the end of the issue. The battle is only getting started. Investigating a worthwhile business model for to target audience is the next step. And doing so is not a simple task.

Demand, competition, market dynamics, and customer choice volatility must all be examined. Therefore, research is essential. And to identify a good niche and business model to target, you would be performing a lot of it.

2.    Constantly Changing Customer Expectations

Maintaining a high level of energy while meeting the ever-rising demands of customers is essential. Customers now demand more from their online purchasing experiences than ever before since there are so many options accessible for elevated customer experience. Customers increasingly have high customer expectations of online shops, demanding everything from quick shipment and tailored suggestions to an easy checkout process and dependable service. Additionally, they won’t think twice to go somewhere if their wants aren’t satisfied.

First, provide a user experience that is optimized for mobile. It is crucial to design an online catalog that functions properly on mobile devices. Secondly, provide incredibly fast customer service. Your customer support staff should be well-versed in problem-solving techniques and equipped with an inquiry tracking system to guarantee that consumers receive prompt responses.

Thirdly, make efficient use of data analytics to pinpoint areas that require development and gain a deeper understanding of what motivates conversion rates.

3.    Evolving Skill Set

Without a doubt, the business model that is expanding the fastest and changing the most is eCommerce. It might be difficult to keep up, and it can be expensive to do so. Numerous lists available on the internet discuss the newest eCommerce trends, which is a constant source of stress for companies. Not every recommendation, though, will apply to you and your company.

Discover strategies to block out the background and focus on the improvements that matter most to your clients. Spending time with others who share your interests is a great method to do this. Join networking and business clubs to network with other managers and owners of similar companies, exchange ideas, and tackle problems as a team.

4.    Managing Shipping and Returns

These days, almost all online retailers provide free or extremely inexpensive return and refund policies. But not every company that grants free returns and refund gives a flawless customer experience. That is your opportunity to shine. Create your shipping costs policies in a way that requires the least amount of work from potential customers who need to return items. Customers may find strategies such as requiring them to repack things and pay return postal costs, or offering shop credits for refunds, to be overly onerous.

Even if a lot of consumers understand the difficulties in handling inventory for an online store and the middleman process, you don’t want them to skip a purchase to save themselves the trouble of a possible return. However, prioritizing the convenience of the customer bases will undoubtedly enhance their experience and foster greater loyalty.

Choosing the correct delivery vendors and product prices will also have an impact on how you design your return policy. Selecting the ideal carrier doesn’t have a predetermined formula. It’s crucial to weigh your alternatives, determine how much each vendor will charge you for shipping, and determine how much to charge for your products or create a return policy because every vendor may have advantages and disadvantages of their own.

5.    Finding the Right Tools

For an eCommerce business, locating a trustworthy software development company for the right tools can be a daunting effort and an additional challenge. It might be challenging to determine who is capable of handling the crucial duty of developing an eCommerce application that fits the needs of your customers and works for you, given the abundance of possibilities available.

Investigate businesses in-depth, read reviews, and look through their portfolio. To get a sense of the kind of outcomes they could provide for your business, you can also speak with their prior or present clients about the job they’ve done in the past.

We at Pimberly have a great deal of data management tools and expertise working in tandem with eCommerce clients. Our team of highly skilled individuals is committed to developing eCommerce apps, and they can assist you from the beginning stages of ideation to the launch of a mobile app. Contact us at Pimberly for the best data management tools and technological services around.